[ Marching band playing, cheerleaders chanting ]
♪♪
-I'm at a clinic
in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, this summer,
and here comes, you know, Southern Columbia's players.
And, so, we were in a drill -- offensive-line drill,
and one of Southern Columbia's players jumped offside.
And he immediately took himself out of the drill
and did push-ups without being told.
And another kid from Southern Columbia
came into the drill until he was done,
and then they replaced each other.
Coach didn't say a word.
He didn't look at him. He didn't yell at him.
He did nothing.
But what has he done to create that type of atmosphere?
How did that culture get started?
-If Jim Roth coached more years
and lost every single game, went - for years,
he would still have a winning record.
-Kissinger breaks away!
And Ardie Kissinger is gonna go all the way for a
Southern Columbia touchdown!
-Why Southern Columbia is so successful year
after year after year is a complex question.
-When you win a lot of football games,
there are people who love you
and there are people who hate you.
-Not only are they winning, but they're mercy-ruling.
-There's a jealousy. -They cheat. They recruit.
-Kids that go to Vo-Tech.
-Oh, yeah.
-I kind of take some satisfaction in the fact
that they're a public school,
and they whupped some of these private schools.
-You trashed the A field.
-Hynoski gets the call at the right side, breaks free.
-We went out believing that we could not be beat.
-You're trashing the AA field.
-And Southern Columbia has made high-school
football history.
-It's a rural area.
Football might be everything to them.
-Fleming, touchdown!
-And we have kids who are competitive, tough kids,
and they do not want to lose.
-Jim Roth -- he is the winningest coach
in Pennsylvania high-school football.
-They've won five in a row twice now.
-The Tigers of Southern Columbia!
-And you don't want to be the team to lose that.
[ Indistinct conversations ]
[ Locker doors shutting ]
-[ Crying ] I'm so sorry! I'm sorry, man.
♪♪
-This is a team that they're expected to win
a state title year in and year out.
-I can't imagine the pressure that adds.
-These are kids.
At the same time,
they do know the history of the program,
and they don't want to be the team that loses a game.
They don't want to be the first team
that doesn't win a state title.
And when they sign up, I think they know that,
and they're willing to take it on.
♪♪
♪♪
-The community embraces Southern football.
-Do it again!
-It's just a way of life in a small community.
-The overall size of the district and population
has gone down a little bit,
and, as a result, our enrollment's gone down.
♪♪
For the first time, we will not have a freshman team,
and all of our freshmen will be coming up to varsity
because our numbers are down to the point
where we need the freshmen to come up.
♪♪
If you don't make any effort to learn more
about what you're doing, you will have issues, I'm sure.
Again, you can't get enough reps,
both mentally or physically, to get this stuff down.
-Go! Hold him up. Hold him up.
Come on, "Pickles"! Dig him out.
Hold your ground, "Tokey"!
-We're probably doing less
than a lot of the other programs.
We like to think that we're very efficient with time...
...because I've learned over the years
that younger coaches or younger guys
sometimes are about practicing too long
and trying to do too much and...
We're going to start the afternoon at :,
and we will be done by :.
Our plan is always to play weeks.
That's a long season.
That's another half-season,
compared to somebody that plays games.
You know, if you're on the field three hours every night for ,
weeks and you get down to the end, mentally,
they could be exhausted.
-Set! -Let's go, Isaac.
Boom! -Oh, that's a boomer.
[ Whistle blows ]
-Hey, if you want to kick it in the end zone
every time this year and we don't have to cover it,
that's fine.
[ Marching band plays ]
He's always been a soccer player.
-It's really difficult
because I had a passion for both sports.
So, I made the decision just to kick and play soccer
because soccer's been my love since I was young.
Like any good program,
there's a standard that you have to meet,
and if you don't meet that, it's disappointing.
I think that's very good for us to have a standard to look up
to what other years have done.
-"State champs" on . -, , , state champs!
-Everybody knows all the wins
and the victories and the fanfare for the --
you know, the current teams.
- state championships.
-I don't think a lot of people knew about the past
and some of the struggles that they had had.
-There was actually a time when they were thinking,
"Maybe we don't need to have a football team.
The losing streak reached or games.
-I had to convince people that, as a -year-old,
one full year out of college,
with the experience of an - season
as an assistant coach, I could do it.
-He told me, when he took over the program,
there were nine kids signed up for football,
and he literally was calling kids on the phone,
you know, saying, "Hey, would you like to go out for football?
Hey, by the way, how big are you?"
-We had lost before I was head coach.
We lost while I was head coach. It was kind of expected.
-And they played a Thursday night game
at home against Hughesville
and won the game, broke the streak,
and the superintendent decided, no school the next day.
They celebrated <span tts:fontStyle="italic">a</span>win.
-When Andy took over the program, his first season,
they were winless, but by the time Andy left,
they had won the Eastern Conference.
-They had a young staff. He was a young coach.
And one of the guys that was on his staff
was a young Jim Roth.
-Andy had a child, wanted to spend more time with his family,
so he bowed out, and Jim took over.
And the rest is history.
-In , he had to be talked into accepting
an assistant-coaching job at Southern Columbia,
because the program was so bad,
they were thinking about dropping the program.
, he took over as the head coach.
The Southern Columbia Tigers have become
a Pennsylvania state power.
[ Applause ]
-I can certainly tell you, when I went
to the winless Southern Columbia Tigers in ,
I never expected to be standing here today.
-Turning it over to Jimmy Roth, well, wow, what a story that is.
-Jim, you know, took it to the next stratosphere.
-What you see on the sidelines is kind of who he is.
This guy doesn't get frazzled.
-Probably a lot more emotional than what most people see.
I'm not a rah-rah guy.
When you have a losing program,
sometimes you develop a culture where you're looking for excuses
instead of looking for solutions.
When we started and turned this thing around,
we were looking for solutions.
-The other thing that Jim, I think, latched on to
quicker than other people was the idea of speed training.
Yeah, you can get bigger and you can get stronger,
but speed, God gave you it or He didn't.
That's a myth now. You can get faster.
-Coach Roth established an offense that...
-Hynoski gets the call. Southern Columbia, touchdown.
-...is almost near impossible to defend.
-When you work the Wing-T, it's a system.
-When I took over in ,
we had Jerry as our tailback for four years,
and he accumulated over , yards.
We fed him the ball.
He broke the state record for rushing yards at the time.
When he graduated, we didn't have anybody
like Jerry Marks coming into the program.
And I was familiar with a guy by the name of Rocky Rees,
and he was a Wing-T guru.
That was the system that I wanted to try to go to
when Jerry graduated
because it incorporated three running backs.
When we played teams, they don't see people that line up
and run the ball at them like we do
and kind of being relentless with it.
So by staying with it and not deciding
to go to a spread offense or more of a passing game,
we're running a system that people don't see a lot,
so they have a lot more trouble defending it.
-They even have their young linemen
when they're, like, playing peewee football,
running their system.
So, by the time we got to high school,
it was like second nature to us.
-Obviously, we want to run,
like, spread offenses like other schools,
but, like, we're just going to listen to our coach.
We're going to listen to what he tells us to do
because he knows how to win.
He's been doing this for years. We haven't.
-I'd love to throw the ball all over the field,
but at the end of the day, Coach Roth knows the way to win.
We've been winning. I'm not a self-centered player.
I do whatever it takes to get the win.
-You lost your mouthpiece.
-Eyes on his hips. You're looking up at his head.
You're going to get faked out.
I don't put out a lot of praise.
With social media and the popularity of
high-school football, they get so much praise,
especially a guy like Braeden.
♪♪
-Look at this play here by Wisloski.
Touchdown, Tigers!
-He's the type of talent that can change a game
in an instant, in a play.
-Braeden's fast. Speed kills. And kids couldn't catch him.
-You're talking about a former state champion
in the -meter dash.
[ Whistle blows ]
-Just working hard at practice every day,
pushing them, pushing the other kids.
I think we'll be a pretty solid team this year.
-We try to approach every year like we have something to prove.
With what they've done,
they really shouldn't have a chip on their shoulder.
But we're trying to create one because you need that edge.
-I know last year, we had to work a lot harder
for what we accomplished.
I would hope that this year would be easy,
but I don't think it will be.
I think our schedule is one of the toughest
that we've had in a while.
-Run right. -Rip, rip, rip.
-! -Blue!
-! -Got to stay awake.
-Go! -Here, here, here!
-Oh, come on, "Barnsey"! -No! No!
[ Whistle blows ]
-Huddle up. -Huddle!
-Aah!
People mess with me first, I don't take it.
-I think Wes is a feisty kid.
I mean, he's a wrestler.
-He's mean in good reason.
Like, he's mean, mean.
Listen, I'm years old,
and I don't want to stand in front of him.
-No! [ Laughter ]
[ Crowd cheers ]
[ Whistle blows ]
-I mean, he's probably one of the toughest...
-I just threw up. Yeah, I'm good.
-...pound for pound...
-Blow.
-...toughest football players I've known.
-Am I good?
Hell, this is numbing, too.
-Cut it up! Cut it up!
-Too late, too late, too late. Get up, get up, get up.
[ Whistle blows ]
-He's throwing punches, bro. -I know. I know.
-You guys don't do anything about it, either.
-Shh-shh! Relax, relax. Come here. Come here. Come on.
-Ridiculous.
-You know, sometimes, he'll get to the point
where we got to calm him down.
His emotions get the best of him.
-I think he likes taking on that character.
It's kind of like maybe a WWE wrestler a little bit.
I know the coaches probably don't like it.
-He has a lot of fire, and it's good.
Sometimes, it might not be good.
-We're hydrating. -Get a drink.
-Come on, Wes. We need you, bud.
-Hey, listen.
Like I said -- listen. That fire is good, but don't let it...
don't let it screw you up.
-But, you know, there's a fine line there,
because you want him to be really intense
and really aggressive.
-When I put a helmet on or wrestling shoes,
it's -- yeah, I get in a different mind-set.
Whenever when I was little, my dad always
telling me, like, "You're not friends,
like, when you're playing.
Like, you just go hard and play
every snap, every match like it's your last."
Yeah, I'm really interested in, like, chemistry and science.
So I'm going to Clarion and studying chemistry.
And I just really enjoyed it.
And I looked up jobs, like, with a chemistry major,
and one of them was pharmacist.
And I looked into it and the schooling I had to go through,
and I just kind of -- Yeah, I kind of
fell in love with it and kind of wanted to pursue it, so...
-Me and Wes -- we're great friends.
It's like a brotherhood, so I love that kid to death.
-What's a big key for you this year?
Is it staying healthy and being productive?
-Yeah, definitely staying healthy
and getting as many plays as I can get in, so...
-You guys -- I mean, it's tradition here
to end up in the postseason,
and you have that big-game experience under your belt.
Just how nice is that?
I mean, those are high-pressure games,
but you're already accustomed to it, yeah.
-Oh, it's definitely great, because now I feel like
I can go into the regular-season games,
be calm, cool, collected, especially with that pressure
of being on that state-championship stage.
-Definitely.
-Obviously, five-time defending state champions,
trying to make your name as the only group
to win six in a row -- just how motivating is that
because you know you have a target on your back?
-Well, growing up, I always thought I was
a little bit better on defense.
-And I think he got a lot of that
from his two older brothers,
because he was probably always chasing them down
in his own backyard.
-Everybody in the state is aware of his two older brothers.
-It was almost like a standard that we have to, like, keep.
Almost like a little competition with all the brothers
to see who's gonna be the best.
Winning state championship is hard,
but winning six in a row is even harder,
so we have to push ourselves to get six this year.
-That's all I needed.
-And then, of course, opening with Berwick,
you know, they had a nice season as the season went on last year
and finished as a playoff team,
so I think it's going to be a challenge for us in Week
and it's just going to be a great atmosphere.
-You don't get to Southern Columbia
unless you talk about Berwick.
-It's been my privilege over the years to interview senators,
secretaries of education,
really highly ranking people in our country and our state.
And we've never had as much press in this studio
as we have tonight behind the scenes.
It's never happened before. What do you make of that?
-There's God and then there's George Curry.
-It is amazing that we live in an area
where the two all-time winningest coaches
in this football rich-state did their thing.
-I mean, forever, Coach Curry and Coach Roth
are always going to be in the same sentence.
Number one and number two all time in the state
of Pennsylvania in wins in Pa. high-school football history.
-Now, my style is very intense.
It's tough. It's not for everyone.
-We've all had that mentality like,
"Yeah, hey, we're Berwick, okay?
We're going to come out. Yeah, we're going to play.
You know, we're going to play hard, but we're Berwick.
We expect to, not we want to, okay?"
That's where Southern is right now.
Southern's a great team, alright?
They're going to come down here and they're going to expect to
because they have earned that right.
-They don't make many mistakes. That's one thing of them.
Sometimes, a lot of teams we've seen on film
that play with them for a half,
and then they gear off and they make a mistake and...
It would be a great win for us. They're the program.
They're the program around here. Southern's the program.
And we want to knock off the top dogs.
It's as simple as that.
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
-So, you go into every season with kind of
preconceived notions, and Garrett Garcia was going to be
our Defensive Player of the Year.
-Garrett Garcia, tackles last year.
-He is an all-stater.
♪♪
-Starting on defense,
we just need to make sure that we are playing
with our heads in the game.
First game, opening game -- we don't want to be sloppy
and give them any kind of early opportunity.
[ Fans chanting ]
[ Knocking rhythmically on door ]
♪♪
♪♪
-Isaac Carter, an all-state kicker, a junior,
will kick it off for Southern Columbia,
and the high-school football season is under way.
-So, it was the first kickoff of the year,
and you want to get that tackle, start off the game right,
and I'm sprinting down, trying to get it, and...
-We need someone for Garrett!
-What did you do?
What did you do? What did you do?
-[ Groans ]
♪♪
-We saw Garrett Garcia go off, favoring a leg.
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
-They did the "Lach" test, and my whole knee,
like, was almost like Jell-o.
♪♪
I still wanted to go back in.
I asked to tape up and play, but...
[ Crowd cheers ]
♪♪
Just the realization that the whole year is over.
-Has the snap, back to throw. Pump fake. Fires.
"Wilk" has it for the touchdown!
They are on the board here in the second.
They lead it, -.
-The Garrett Garcia injury,
I think, just kind of shocked the entire team.
-Quarterback keeper. Lonczynski pushed from behind.
Did he get in? Yes!
Yes! Lonczynski in with
. seconds remaining in the first half!
Berwick , Southern Columbia .
♪♪
-The Southern Columbia Area Tiger marching band
is proud to present to you this year's marching show.
-Win or lose, play every snap like it's your last.
You hear me?! Do you hear me?!!
-Like, he has a standard for everyone on our team.
He expects you to do your job,
and I think that's what a great leader does.
-Starting safety Louden Murphy
was rushed to the E.R. with a hydration issue.
He was having issues, and they had to take him by E.R.
-It's like a cramp. I can't move them.
-But is it painful? -No. It feels like a tingle.
-Where's the trainer?
-Both teams come out to start the third quarter.
Just as the ref gets ready to blow his whistle,
lightning strike
and then another one, another one, and another one.
-They're saying right now we're scheduled to restart at :.
-:? -Which is like minutes.
This could be a benefit for us
because we've been sitting around so long.
I mean, there's certainly no momentum effect anymore.
It's like a new game.
The only problem is, we got to outscore them
by a couple touchdowns.
-Took about two hours in total till both teams came back.
-Everybody just needs to focus on doing your job,
playing your position to the best of your ability
for the next two quarters.
We can come back and pull this thing out.
They should have a doubt in the back of their mind
if they can hold on to this.
Don't give them an opportunity.
-So, after about an hour-and--minute delay,
we're under way.
-Tigers!
♪♪
-...led by number , Wes Barnes.
-There's the inside reverse.
Madden has it at the , the , the , the ,
and a touchdown for Carter Madden from yards out.
A staple of the Wing-T offense, the inside reverse.
Off the right side, has running room.
Over the , the . And he breaks open at midfield.
Braeden Wisloski, who goes the distance,
yards.
-Southern looked like a completely different beast
in that second half, scoring six touchdowns.
♪♪
-The give on the play, and a huge hole off the left side.
No problems for Wes Barnes,
as he goes yards for the score.
♪♪
-That's the way, boy!
-Call goes to Wes Barnes. Breaks free!
, , far sideline, , , , ,
and a touchdown, Wes Barnes.
-Southern Columbia --
the second half shows state championship potential again.
-The final again tonight,
Southern Columbia , Berwick .
-You were involved in one of the most amazing games
in the history of the program, without a doubt.
And then to score in one half to put a team away?
[ All cheering ]
[ All shouting ]
-"State champs" on !
-, , , state champs!
-Yo!
-Good game, man. Absolutely fantastic.
-Love you. -You're lucky I love you.
[ Marching band playing ]
-Good game, boy!
[ Birds chirping ]
-Do you want to work another linebacker, like Krebs,
or do we put a D-back in?
-For outside linebacker, you mean?
-Yeah. And have him get out in coverage.
You know, if they give us spread, and keep Dom
and maybe Carter Madden inside.
-He studies film. He knows formations.
He's like the quarterback. He gets everybody lined up.
The kids look up to him.
So we just need somebody to step up in a leadership role.
-I think we're all pretty upset about it.
I think we have players that could step it up
and get in his position,
but it's definitely going to hurt a lot
knowing that he's out for the season.
-It sucks, but life throws you curveballs.
You just kind of deal with them.
Nothing I could do about it now, really.
-Yeah. 'Cause your junior year
is usually the year you get the most looks,
because then, by the time you're a senior,
they already recruited basically all their guys.
So it'll be a lot harder.
Hopefully I can come out my senior year
and impress them enough to get an offer.
-Our average class now in this school,
in the high school, is maybe around students.
-Southern Columbia, for most,
has always been a single-A school.
You know, they did move up
to double-A the last years.
They're double-A by only a handful of students.
In fact, they may come back to single-A in enrollment.
-And the PIAA wants to make them triple-A.
Their argument is, "We don't want to see this,"
which I think is a very good argument.
-The PIAA is the governing body over high-school athletics
in the state of Pennsylvania.
We're an organization that is to promote fairness,
and that's what our rules are put in place to do.
-The PIAA has rules that would like to see teams
that are successful move up.
-If a team garners enough success points
and has the number of transfers --
for football, it's three --
then, if they have those two pieces
combined in a two-year cycle,
then they will be moved up a classification.
-The success part of it bothers me,
because I don't think you should be punished,
which some would consider it to be, for being successful.
It shouldn't be used against you.
-I'd say our rebuttal to that is you're successful.
You're overly successful.
Playing in a higher class,
you're getting to more even competition
and what these kids are going to go on to the collegiate level.
You know, we would love to see them voluntarily upgrade.
All schools have that option.
I think it would be good for the program. I really do.
But, you know, again, it all comes down to, you know,
right now, their choice of remaining in A.
-To move up to triple-A,
back in the day, when we were playing single-A and winning,
people said we should bump up to double-A.
And my thing was, we don't have any unfair advantages.
We aren't doing anything that is ill*gal.
We don't have any advantages above other teams.
If we're a non-boundary school,
if we're Southern Columbia Charter
and we can recruit kids from all over
and you say, "You should be playing at a higher level,"
I understand your argument.
-A non-boundary school, these private schools
that you don't have to live in the district,
the vast majority of those kids are coming from other local
or sometimes out of state into those private schools.
-Private schools in Philadelphia
can pick from a population of or million.
-There's a lot of Southern Columbia football
haters out there.
-Yeah, I'm pretty -- I was always kind of used to it.
I was always like a -- not, like, hated,
but a disliked player in a lot of sports
just because of how aggressive I was and stuff like that.
So I was kind of used to it and kind of liked it.
That part of it I liked being is the best is hated.
So, like, obviously, you want to kind of be
hated a little bit, so...
-People hated Berwick 'cause we always won.
You know, they always hate someone that always wins.
-A lot of people feel you can't win and do it honestly.
-You know, people look at Southern
and they've looked at Berwick.
And I hear it all the time --
"Oh, yeah, but they cheat. They recruit."
-You know, a lot of people hide behind that.
A lot of people -- it's an easy thing to say.
"Oh, they recruit."
-But they don't recruit.
But people do come to them.
It's one or two a year.
And that's from someone who knows the programs.
-Everybody's had some players move in.
I mean, Southern Columbia played a school in the playoffs
a couple years ago that had transfers that year.
It was like a whole new roster.
-We're under a microscope,
so anybody that transfers into our district
and they're playing football in our program
is under a microscope.
-When you have a very winning program,
you just become, like, a natural draw.
And sometimes, people start moving their kids
into that district.
They may know that, you know,
when the kids are in third grade,
fourth grade, fifth grade.
-Yeah, I was in fourth grade.
I lived up in Tioga County and went to Williamson.
And they didn't have a football program.
And we ended up picking Southern just mainly for wrestling, too,
so I could have two good programs behind me.
Yeah, started coming here from fifth grade on.
I see the tradition and the fan base
and everything that goes around Southern Columbia
in all sports, and, I mean,
why wouldn't you want to be a part of it?
So, yeah.
-You got it, you got it, got it.
-After a while, you know, you can say,
"Well, they're doing this. They're doing that."
Make up all reasons why they're successful,
other than they're very, very good at what they do
and they work hard at what they do.
-It's just their success and winning.
And, you know, hey, other programs, get better.
Get better.
♪♪
-Go out and stick it to these guys right away.
And what we've done in the past
and what they have done in the past will help us.
It will help us take over this football game,
because, mentally, in the back of their minds,
you know, they're not looking at this like last week,
when they went on the field against Lewisburg.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
We have that to our advantage every single week.
Now, you're gonna get --
Most teams, you're going to get their best shot,
but you can get them to quit or to back off
or to lose their confidence if we go out and put it to them.
It's simply the tradition of the program having an effect.
We are ready. Let's go. [ All cheering ]
-That's my dog.
-A.C.! -A.C.!
We love you. We love you, A.C.
-Hit the button.
-Good job. Finally get a home game next week.
We are -- For those of you that don't know,
we are playing Loyalsock.
-Most people have that game circled on their calendar.
That's their Super Bowl,
that's their state championship, when they play Southern.
And, so, we face that week in and week out.
I don't know if all of the kids quite understand that.
-Anybody that plays them,
I mean, that would make their season,
that would make their decade
if they could beat Southern Columbia.
-The legacy that people have built,
it's something you can't ruin.
-It's time to go to work. Let's go!
-Let's go! -The champs are here!
-Got a good team right here, but we're ready.
We're ready.
-Fumble. And it's going to be recovered by the Lancers.
-Oh, no!
-And Hill takes it from yards out for the Loyalsock touchdown.
-They're just running right up the middle.
-Yeah, well, I know.
So, we're going to go two backs
and we're going to take the chance on pass.
We'll play a zone on pass.
-As Gee's back to pass, he looks.
He fires, and it's going to be complete for the touchdown.
-That was a good catch.
-Andrews for a Loyalsock touchdown.
-Wake up!
You don't even block!
-No pride.
-If you don't play with more desire,
you'll lose this football game,
because right now, that team is outplaying us %.
-This is an embarr-- you're embarrassing yourselves
and you're embarrassing the program.
-So, I was there sh**ting the first half
and I remember I have to leave the game at halftime.
So, I'm leaving the game.
And I have Southern Columbia fans going,
"Where are you going? It's not over yet."
-We've been here before. We've been here before.
-This ain't nothing. -This ain't nothing.
-Justin Van Fleet, the head coach for Loyalsock,
hears that.
He leaves his team, walks back to me
as I'm walking to my car, and he goes, "It's over.
We've got this."
-Inside the is Jaylen Andrews.
He's across the . -Oh, no.
-Now he's across the .
He's across the . A footrace. , , , , .
-Wow. - yards for a touchdown.
-Listen, just stay on people and be aggressive, alright?
And we'll be fine. Let's go. Play with confidence. Come on.
-You put too much time in over the summer
for all this stuff to fold right now, alright?
Playing for the program right now.
-I just kept getting the same cramp in my leg,
and it was fine.
I was playing through it.
And then, in the third quarter, both my legs were just done.
I couldn't run. I couldn't do anything.
I can't go in, bro.
Like, both my legs just keep cramping, bro.
I can't do anything.
I want to play, but I just can't, bro.
♪♪
-Hand-off going to Barnes. And fumble!
Another turnover.
-The Lancers of Loyalsock win this one big, going away,
as they defeat the Tigers of Southern Columbia.
-It was everything that could go wrong went wrong,
for the most part.
Right now, the only thing that matters
is what we do moving forward,
because we can't change the outcome of this game.
Can't change it.
It means nothing more than a blemish on our schedule,
which, obviously, we don't get a whole lot.
We're not used to it, don't like it.
We're a lot better team than what we showed here tonight.
Alright? Bring it in. -Come here.
-Yo, word. -Get in tight.
-Everyone be quiet.
-Yes, sir!
-"State champs" on . -, , , state champs!
-[ Crying ] I'm so sorry! I'm sorry, man.
I mean, when you lose in a program
like Southern Columbia, you just have to think
about, like, the people like, before you,
because I thought it was my fault, obviously, and...
-There's nothing you can do to change that.
It's over. Let's go.
-It's not your fault. It's a team.
-I just think that was a team we could have handled,
but we just needed to play well and execute.
And we couldn't get off the field on defense
and we turned the ball over five times.
-We couldn't tackle. -Gave up a kickoff return. Huh?
-We couldn't tackle. Our tackling was terrible.
And their game plan was --
I mean, they removed Wes by formation.
-And what they did inside is where not having Garcia hurts.
-It's a shame, but whenever Southern Columbia
loses a football game, it's newsworthy.
We dropped them from our number- spot,
and that was the first time that Southern Columbia
wasn't our top-ranked team
since the final rankings in the season.
-Yeah, I think so.
I think there's pressure after the loss. Definitely.
-They lost last year to Wyomissing,
and everybody said, "Wow!"
And I just was like, "Come on. That's a good thing.
They're going to focus. They'll be fine."
-Back to punt for the Tigers...
[ Marching band plays ]
-Go, Wes!
[ Whistle blows ]
-Aah!
♪♪
-Go to the table. Go to the table.
-[ Groaning ] Aah-aah! -Go to the table.
-It's a Tiger first down.
Ball marked on the -yard line of the Ironmen.
♪♪
-Aah!
-When Wes went down, I didn't realize
how significant an injury it was.
I didn't even know he was hurt at the time.
-It's broke. It popped.
-Relax. Relax.
-I got a text from somebody on the sideline saying,
"This isn't good."
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
-What's a big key for you this year?
Is it staying healthy and being productive?
-Yeah, definitely staying healthy
and getting as many plays as I can get in, so...
♪♪
♪♪
-You don't care!
That's why we're losing by points!
You know the last time a team in this program
lost even two games?
We're not tough enough.
Wake up!
♪♪
♪♪
-That's, like, the only game I think we actually,
like, gave up.
Just everyone gave up.
♪♪
-The fact that they got mercy-ruled --
that never happens.
-Every person has to reach inside
and you got to decide what you want to do
with the rest of your season.
-"State champs" on . -, , , state champs.
-We found out on Good Friday during the ultrasound.
It was kind of like, "Well, there's one,
there's two, there's three."
And by then, I'm in panic mode. So, Jim doesn't say a word.
I think he's in total shock.
They were originally supposed to come in September,
but they came seven weeks early, which was probably because
they knew it was going to be football season
and they needed to get here before football started.
Jim went back to school and coaching.
People told me he used to sleep in the faculty room
during the day whenever he had free time.
I was home alone with them. We didn't have any help.
I took care of them myself.
And our son's actual first day out
was Eastern Conference football game,
after he got home from the hospital,
because he was the first one home out of the three of them.
And so I took him to a football game
and kind of got it in his blood from the very beginning, so...
-The way we lost in that game
and just the way we played overall,
that was the most frustrating point.
I don't get angry too often,
but, yet, I care a lot more about things
than what I may show at times.
See, she's already starting to go faster on the way back.
[ Laughing ] She's smart enough to know.
-Anybody that's ever coached,
you don't coach to make a lot of money,
especially at the high-school level.
You coach because you're passionate about that sport
and you want to help kids,
you know, be successful and become,
well-rounded, successful young adults in the long run.
-Yo, Ms. Cree said we were losing this weekend.
-Ms. Cree, are you coming to the game tonight?
-I'm gonna watch it on TV. [ Both laugh ]
Here.
-So, you guys are watching game film?
-Yeah. -In class?
-Yes. That's what I usually do, even though I'm the kicker.
I just like watching it and seeing what we can do better.
-Yeah, this is my notebook, my football notebook.
I write all...
Every time I watch film, I write the plays down.
And I just started writing down the plays
and writing down some notes about it.
And it's kind of helped me understand more about the game
and how to attack each and every team,
because it's, you know, a really complex game.
So...
-He is a genius.
Like, he has in every class.
We have a good, friendly competition between both of us,
because I'm number two and he's number one in our class.
-, we were a blue-ribbon school.
We are proud of our academic accomplishments,
as well as our athletic accomplishments.
[ Students screaming ]
[ Marching band plays ]
♪♪
♪♪
-There's bitterness when Mount Carmel plays
Southern Columbia.
Mount Carmel had five state titles in years.
Southern has trumped that.
-I think our one assistant coach,
Rick Steele, found it on the field.
It said,
"Mount Carmel Red Tornadoes, state champions."
This is a great opportunity now with this Mount Carmel game.
It's really a game we need at this point
after the two losses that we suffered
and the way we played in those games.
We need to be in a game like this
and find out where we are.
-Most important regular-season game in -- pfft! -- forever.
-It's a huge rivalry,
where there is a lot of respect for that program.
We're rooting for them every game of the year except one.
♪♪
-It's all mental from this point.
Give it your all, we'll win this.
This is the biggest game you will ever play!
Let's go! [ All cheering ]
♪♪
♪♪
-Let's go! -Let's go!
♪♪
[ Crowd cheers ]
♪♪
-And when we're going on "set,"
you guys got to get to the line and get set.
♪♪
[ Whistle blows ]
-Take over this game right here, right now, alright?
Let's go!
♪♪
[ Crowd cheers ]
-Touchdown, Red Tornadoes, yards up the right side.
♪♪
[ Crowd cheers ]
♪♪
And that will do it.
I'm expecting, in about a month from now,
these two teams to meet in the District IV championship.
♪♪
-We'll see them in November. We'll see them in November.
Remember this.
That's not going to happen next time.
Y'all got me? Y'all got me?!
-Yes, sir!
-"State champs" on . -, , , state champs!
♪♪
♪♪
-How are they going to respond to this adversity?
Because what they're facing this year
hasn't been seen at Southern in I don't know how long.
-It almost seems like it's routine,
where it's become the expectation
to get to the state championship every year.
And, you know, this is it. They're done.
♪♪
♪♪
-That changed the whole -- the whole aspect of the season.
-I've heard different people say that
they thought that the season turned at different points.
For me, when the final seconds ticked off,
Wes Barnes, if you noticed -- some people might have
seen it or seen video footage of it --
he was the first person in line
to go out and shake hands with Mount Carmel.
It was almost like a sign of,
"Okay, I wasn't on the field for this game,
we didn't play our best, but we're going to see you again."
-Thank you.
Yes, I do. I think it might have been my tackle.
-Carter kicks it to Diaz.
He gets it at the . He has running room.
He's across the . And he's going to be hit hard.
That was the kicker, Casey.
That was Isaac Carter that laid the boom there.
-Three. -Maybe in the postseason.
[ Laughs ]
-Hey. Good job.
-One interesting story from this past year was Isaac Carter.
So, he's a soccer player for Southern Columbia.
So, their program unfortunately lost early in districts.
-After we lost in the district semifinals for soccer,
it was heartbreaking.
I remember, the next day at practice,
like, I think I ripped someone's head off.
Coach Mills went up to me and said,
"Do you want to play a position?"
I was like, "Yeah, whatever I can do to help the team out."
-And he was practicing.
I'm like, "What's he doing?"
They go, "Well, he said he wants to play now."
I'm like, "Okay."
-I put a lot of work in the off-season.
And when you're - and not knowing
that, you're -- like, all that work may have not paid off.
Whenever I have a sense of doubt in my mind,
I know I can rely on God
to help me get through a challenge.
God puts obstacles in your way,
and if you get through them, you strengthen yourself.
I think that's great, what He does.
He doesn't just give it to you.
You have to actually go out and prove yourself
and get over those obstacles.
-Listen.
Just want to tell you one thing before this first playoff game.
There is nothing we can do about any failures
or losses that we had during the regular season.
Nothing you can do about it now.
I don't look at this stuff,
but I'm told we're not even listed
as an honorable mention on some of these rankings in the state.
If every one of you decides to kind of start playing
this game with a chip on your shoulder,
that you have something to prove, you know,
and a little more of an angry manner, demeanor,
it would go a long way.
First playoff game -- it's got to happen right now.
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
-Alright, so, it's seniors' last home game.
Let's make this moment real, alright?
We're going to get out here and punish these kids.
I don't think I was ever that hyped for a game.
I don't think any of us were that hyped for a game.
-Yeah.
I mean, I've always loved to play football,
especially with my friends.
So I went out and I just -- As soon as I got that first hit...
I was like, "Oh, my gosh, I missed this."
So, yeah, and I'm here today and I'm trying to help the team win.
-Southern Columbia, losses in the regular season,
something very rare.
-There has to come a point
where someone says, "This isn't going to happen again."
-We're going to see, for the first time in six weeks,
Wes Barnes.
-We were really concerned, like,
"How is he going to be able to play
with a major ligament gone in your elbow?"
And then he had to wear that big brace on there.
-When we lost to Mount Carmel, he told me.
He said, "I'm coming back.
It's the right time to come back."
And look what happened when he came back.
♪♪
-Hand-off goes up the middle to Wes Barnes.
He's across the , across the , the , the ,
the , and a touchdown.
What a start -- Wes Barnes, yards.
Welcome back, Wes Barnes.
♪♪
-At the time, when he first started to play,
we didn't know how good he was going to be.
He hadn't played a regular position in years.
After two and a half, three days of practice,
he went out and played like he was just playing the game
all along.
-It's nostalgic, because I played in junior high,
and I just -- I just love this game,
especially playing with these guys
because I've been friends with them for a long time.
-Halfway through the second quarter, -.
The demise of the Southern Columbia Tigers
may have been overexaggerated.
-Nothing fazed him.
So, then once he played through that game,
we knew, you know, he's good to go.
[ Whistle blows ]
♪♪
-So, the hand-off.
It's gonna be a fake, and it's gonna be a fumble.
And it's recovered by the Tigers.
Isaac Carter recovers the fumble.
-Honey. Good.
Kids watching this, drink your honey.
-Back to pass, he's gonna run.
He's gonna fire.
-Oh, boy! -Intercepted by Wes Barnes.
A one-handed interception,
and Wes Barnes is gonna take it yards for the touchdown.
Wes Barnes with a highlight-reel play.
-Having the game of his season.
-When Wes told me he was coming back,
we knew that we were going to be unstoppable.
-That's why I came back, to play both sides
and play with my guys for the last ride.
So, yeah.
-Mount Carmel Area next. -Mm-hmm.
-District championship.
So, just how motivated are you guys to come back and play them?
And obviously, you missed that first game.
-Yeah, definitely motivated.
They didn't see me on the field that game,
so I think it's going to be a lot different.
We'll see how it goes, and we're confident, so...
-That's all I needed. Thanks. -Yep.
[ Clock ticking ]
-Tonight is at the Silver Bowl,
and Mother Nature brought us some snow.
It's a football atmosphere.
This battle between these two powerhouses.
And as District IV Class AA championship games go,
they don't get much bigger than this.
-That game was crazy.
That's the craziest game I've ever played in.
[ Sirens wailing ]
-A snow squall coming in right at the right time,
at the Silver Bowl in Mount Carmel, two rivals.
I mean, that was exactly how you would draw it up
and write the script for a movie, isn't it?
-I know we're going to play better
than we did the first time we played them.
Win or lose, you're going to remember this game
for a long time.
How do you want to remember how you played?
Are you ready? -Yes!
-Are you ready?! -Yes!
-"Team" on . , , ... -Team!
♪♪
-Let's go. -Let's go!
-Let's go!
-Coach Roth just did a great job managing us and just keeping us
motivated and hungry.
-Listen. You should be thinking right now and during this game
about Mount Carmel, Loyalsock, and Danville.
Take it out on these guys right now.
[ All cheering ]
-He got fired up. That's the first time
I had seen him get fired up before a game.
♪♪
-Two receivers, either side. Once again, motion.
Spears will throw it again to Varano.
Steps inside. He goes to the end zone.
And he'll get in for the touchdown!
Mount Carmel Area jumps on top here
in this District IV Class AA championship game.
Carter standing on what I think is his own .
High snap.
♪♪
Good athletic ability to pull it down.
He's gonna take off with it,
and he's gonna get the first down.
What a play by Isaac Carter.
-Isaac! Isaac!
-That was not a scripted play,
but it ends up being the defining play of the season
by a lot of accounts.
-And they went down and they scored.
-Barnes around the left side.
He's got some opening running room,
and he'll take it into the end zone for the touchdown.
-It's so demoralizing to Mount Carmel.
Up to that point had played a great football game.
And then from there,
it just seems like they couldn't recover.
[ Crowd cheering ]
[ Whistle blows ]
-Defense! Defense!
♪♪
[ Whistle blows ]
-That's him! That is him!
-Mount Carmel now with eight men in the box.
And they will give it around to Wisloski,
trying to run the jet around the right side.
And he does get down the sideline.
Still tiptoeing. Now he'll cut it back.
To the , to the .
And he's got the speed, and he's gonna take it in
for another Southern Columbia touchdown.
Wow.
-District champs! District champs!
-That was a huge, huge moment,
something I'll remember for a long time.
Yes! Yeah, baby!
Yeah, baby! That's a freakin' good one.
-Got to act like you've been there before, because we have,
but this is a special win
because of the way things went this year,
obviously losing to them the first time.
And when you're on the field, you got to take that approach
too, right, Kyle?
When you get in the end zone, act like
you've been there before.
-This was their best coaching year ever.
The main thing? Getting in the players' minds
that "the coaches still believe in us.
They're not giving up on us."
[ Indistinct shouting ]
-It's a great feeling.
Everyone thinks that we're the underdogs.
They're -. We're coming to their field.
Snowy day. We just came out and dominated
and showed what Southern football is about.
-Whoo-hoo! Yes!
Yes!
Yeah, bud. All we do is win!
-We just upped the intensity up,
especially with Wesley coming back.
Just the intensity rose a lot.
-What was going through your mind
in the regular-season meeting when they beat you,
but you're standing on the sideline in street clothes?
-Um...I didn't think that we were amped up for the game.
We were tentative and didn't really come with aggression.
And I knew with me on the field,
our team would be coming, come ready to go, so...
-Go, bring it in. -We got it.
-Hell of a game, brother. -It's not over yet.
It's not over. Business ain't done yet.
-We knew that, yeah, beating Mount Carmel was great,
but you know what's even better?
Proving everyone wrong and winning the state championship.
♪♪
[ Crowd cheers ]
-Bishop Guilfoyle was the reigning Class A champs.
They had moved up in classification.
So, that was a game between two reigning state champions.
♪♪
[ Whistle blows ]
♪♪
[ Whistle blows ]
♪♪
[ Whistle blows ]
-The way Braeden did it,
it was like it was supposed to happen.
-That was the play of the year.
-Rother in motion.
Kiesewetter back.
And he actually hands the ball off to Wyandt.
A nice play there -- first-down run inside the .
-Oh! -Taken away by Braeden Wisloski!
He's gonna go yards!
He's gonna take it.
He stripped the ball, and Braeden Wisloski to the house!
There goes that man!
And the Tigers lead - with : left to play.
I cannot believe what I just saw, Dave.
-Playmakers make plays, right? Let's go.
-You have what could have been a - game
now being a - game.
And from that point, it was over.
-Gabriel?
-We're here because of what the defense has done
the last three weeks.
Just take it a notch higher.
[ Whistle blows ] -Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah!
-Shoved out of bounds by Isaac Carter,
and he just leveled him.
-Isaac Carter has just been, I think, the MVP so far.
-He was a game wrecker.
-You don't see that often from the kicker,
but that just shows his strength.
-Hey, it's my senior year. I got nothing to lose, so...
I'm not coming back again, so...
Just got to let it all out there.
♪♪
-Touchdown.
[ Whistle blows ]
-They're never going to tackle me tackling like that.
I told him, "Start hitting me in the legs,
or I ain't going down."
♪♪
-And that's gonna do it.
-Let's go, man. -Not finished yet.
-Let's go. Let's go. -Yes, sir.
-Southern Columbia, the eighth consecutive
state championship appearance.
Looking to win six in a row and a th next week.
-Going for number , guys. Great job.
[ All shouting ]
-"State champs" on .
-, , , state champs!
-It's awesome.
I don't think anybody expected us to be
in the state championship this year.
-I think there was a lot of doubters, and, hey,
I was one, and, you know,
this is why they're the program they are
and this is why Jim Roth, winningest coach in PA,
is one of the best at it.
-Coming off an elbow injury like that,
most kids just wouldn't want to play the rest of the season.
The things he did for the team --
not for him, for the team.
He just wants to play that bad and win that bad.
It's amazing.
-Nice job, kid -- one more. -Yes, sir.
-I was concerned about Southern being too one-dimensional
against a very athletic,
you know, big team, in Westinghouse.
-Their coach did a good job of building that program
over a four-year period.
-And I think they expected to win
because they had rolled over everybody they had played
all season long.
-What really impresses me is they just are relentless
and they're fast.
So, I mean, if we're in zone, you're playing zone to our left.
If we're in man, you're covering him.
He's usually number one. -Alright.
-Where? -Weight room.
Fix your hair and talk smart.
-The whole difference, I think, is our run defense.
It's changed so much since that Mount Carmel game.
We learned so much.
-If the right tackle, , gets down in the three-point,
it's a run.
It was like that almost % of the time.
-If there's two guys in the backfield,
they're running the football.
Did not throw a single pass out of a two-back set.
-Things changed around.
We had Isaac Carter come and his enthusiasm and love of the game
and just his excitement playing was contagious.
And then we had Barnsey come back,
and I said, "Barnsey's barely controlled rage,
the way he plays, was contagious."
-One more game.
-One more game. -[ Chuckles ]
-I've missed one state championship game,
and it was against Rochester.
And I happened to be in New York City.
My father was at Memorial Sloan Kettering having surgery
for his cancer, and that was the only game I missed.
And, you know, we were following it.
He was even asking me for updates on the game.
You know, he was the reason why I became the fan that I was.
I honestly didn't believe we were going to be at this point.
I didn't think that we would get to this point,
and here we are.
You know, Coach Roth and his staff
has done an unbelievable job, as they always do,
and this is what we live for.
♪♪
♪♪
-This season's been like the Knoebels Phoenix,
with all the ups and downs.
But through all the twists and turns,
you've ridden to the best around.
Going for title , no other schools are even close.
We keep adding on those titles,
Tigers will always have the most.
Braeden has his speed, and Wes plows people down.
Beware when these two get started,
they're definitely the best around.
When Wes got hurt and broken, it made lots of people sad.
But now he's back, leading the way.
Don't know about you, but I'm sure glad.
There's a new sheriff in town, Isaac Carter is his name.
His passion and his leadership
has brought a new spirit to our games.
It was hard losing Garrett, he's a force we wish we had.
But he'll be back next season, which makes Tiger Nation glad.
The table is set for victory, the menu has been well-planned.
We're having bulldogs for lunch tomorrow,
their season the Tigers will can.
No matter what the outcome, you make us proud as you can be.
But come Friday afternoon in the Valley,
it's only gold that you will see.
So go get that th title, bring it home to SCA.
Play hard, God bless, have fun, and let's go all the way.
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
-It is why everybody plays the game.
Very few guys in the state anywhere, period,
but in the state of Pennsylvania get to play
in a state-championship game.
When you realize there's -plus schools, right?
There's a ton of programs,
and very few people get this opportunity.
You got this opportunity because of what you did,
because of what people before you did.
There's a lot of tradition. There's a lot of pride.
One simple phrase, guys -- a lack of respect.
Make them pay for it. Let's go.
-Let's go!
[ Indistinct conversations ]
[ Marching band plays ]
[ Whistle blows ]
[ Indistinct shouting ]
-Hand-off inside to Taylor.
And he's got room, and he'll score.
[ Crowd cheers ]
Impressive second possession for Westinghouse.
-In the first half, I was a little too hyped up
a little bit, and you can tell because of that dumb penalty.
-Isaac Carter trying to chase him down,
and they'll get him down at the -yard line.
And a penalty flag. -That was a late hit.
-So we will get one more play.
[ All shouting ]
-Get out! Get out! Get out!
Get out! Get back. -Hey!
-Right, right. Okay?
So, all the ref is saying is he called out .
He didn't flag you. He said your hit was the one.
So, just remember that. We can't go without you.
-Be smart.
-I remember Colden Bloom got in my face and says,
"Bro, stop with that hype stuff. You got to do your job."
-That's all you have to do. You don't have to be this angry.
Just do your job, and everything takes care of itself.
Control your gap, get a pass rush,
and then get up and celebrate.
That's all you got to do. That's all --
that's the only three things you got to do, all right?
All right?
-That really stuck into me.
And I was like, "That's what a good teammate says to you
when you're down."
-I need help with that kid when I'm dying like that.
I can't keep up. I'm -- I'm dying.
-They have good speed. They pursue.
We have had too many opportunities for more yards,
but we're not getting north and south fast enough.
I mean, we can get into the secondary and break one.
-What changed in that game was they realize
you can't run east-west on them.
When they started going north-south,
that changed the whole complex of the game.
-Hand-off -- he breaks through.
He's out at the .
He's still going.
What a run by Braeden Wisloski!
-Yeah, that was definitely a Wisloski game.
That was a Braeden Wisloski takeover the game.
-Third down.
-And here's a hand-off to Wisloski again,
and there he goes!
He will score untouched from the -yard line.
[ Cheering ]
Morsillo. Here comes the pressure, screen.
This is to Taylor.
He'll get the first down and more, and he's still going.
Look at this!
Look at this down the near sideline!
Taylor will score.
How about that?
♪♪
Third down and from the Southern Columbia .
-Southern doesn't throw the ball.
That was not in the scouting report.
-I haven't seen Southern Columbia
throw a pass yet in the second half.
-But when they needed it, they got it.
-Wise is back to pass.
He fires.
♪♪
It's gonna be caught for a first down by Braeden Wisloski.
He makes a spin move, and he's gonna go!
He's into the end zone!
A -yard touchdown!
♪♪
-Did I tell you?! Did I tell you?!
-Yeah. -Huh?! Huh?!
-Especially with all the media and all the hate that I got
throughout the year,
it just felt nice to know that all of it didn't matter
because at the end of the day, we made the play.
-What did I tell you, man? -You told me.
-I told you. -You told me.
-Yep, keep it up.
-Defense! Defense!
♪♪
-Looking for Sincere Smith.
Pressure's coming. Morsillo's got to run it.
He fumbles the football, and Southern Columbia's got it.
-Yeah!
[ All cheering ]
-They kept coming.
Every time Southern kind of took a two-score lead,
Westinghouse came back.
-Back to pass is Morsillo.
He looks. He fires.
And it's going to be caught for a touchdown.
Wow, what a play there.
This Westinghouse team --
they're not going to go down without a fight.
-We got ourselves a game. : to go.
Barnes, Wisloski. Here's Barnes.
They'll feed him, to the .
Bounces outside, gets a block to the , , ,
, and knocked out of bounds.
-Put this ball in the end zone and send these guys packing.
-Be physical!
-Hand-off's gonna go to Carter Madden.
He's going to get inside the ,
and he's gonna get into the end zone!
-yard touchdown run, Carter Madden!
-Everything led up to that point,
and nothing mattered before that.
♪♪
-When fantasy becomes reality.
Southern Columbia,
the most improbable state championship
in their storied history.
-It is probably their toughest state-championship win,
but probably one of the most rewarding.
-Hey, it's only fitting.
This game was just like the season.
The way it started, the regular season,
all the adversity, not being, you know,
in a position where things are going easy.
You guys persevered today.
I'm gonna tell you right now, this is, of all of our titles,
this is right up there with any of the teams that we beat.
That's a heck of a football team you put away today.
A couple losses, everybody had you written off.
They're at home watching you on TV right now.
Heck of a job. [ All cheering ]
[ All chanting ]
-"State champs" on . -, , , state champs!
♪♪
[ Crowd cheers in background ]
♪♪
-Just accomplished -- that's really it at this point.
My head's pounding, my arm's done.
I don't know what else to do right now, but...
I'm just gonna go celebrate.
♪♪
-Cherish this one forever. Forever!
[ Both laugh ]
-Really emotional because we worked so hard for this,
and everyone doubted us,
coming in with three losses in the regular season.
I just think I can't thank God any more
for putting me in this opportunity with my team
and just blessed our team, and He helped us win.
[ Crying ] I'm sorry.
-No, it's okay, man.
-Just really emotional because I love my team so much.
♪♪
-This year, Southern Columbia faced so much adversity.
They had so many injuries, the losses.
You know, they faced so much throughout the year.
Winning the state championship,
you thought, okay, you know, it was done.
-Shortly after the game, of course, we were notified
of this, you know, TikTok post.
-Two underclassmen from Southern Columbia
posted something that was a trend on TikTok.
There's music tied to it.
-You know, in that rap song, there's a racial slur.
-The PIAA stepped in. Southern Columbia stepped in.
-We addressed it accordingly, following the school handbooks
and athletic handbook.
You know, we don't tolerate any type of harassment or racism.
-I talked to them in school. I was like,
"Yeah, you guys made a mistake, but I love you guys.
You guys are my teammates." Everyone makes mistakes.
I know that with my faith that you can't hold grudges.
You can't judge people.
-Everyone makes mistakes, and, again, we try to learn
from these mistakes and try to move past them.
-And I think that one event shouldn't be labeled
as everyone.
-All of us have been playing together
since we were , years old,
sometimes even younger than that.
-It's a brotherhood. It's more than a team.
-The mind-set is it's not about you.
It's about each other.
♪♪
-Growing up, I looked up to the older kids.
Like, you want to be a state champion.
It's a standard.
Hey! Good throw!
[ Sirens wailing, horns honking ]
-My first love was football,
so, yeah, I'll definitely miss it --
the tradition, chemistry,
everything that I moved here for.
-The atmosphere,
people coming out and watching us.
I've been playing my whole life. Loved it my whole life.
Playing with my boys -- I'm gonna miss it.
-So, they wrapped you up with toilet paper?
How was it?
♪♪
-This is a dinner of state champions.
♪♪
-I wasn't going to play this year,
and what brought me back to playing
was these guys.
What we did today, I wouldn't trade for the world.
♪♪
And I love that you guys continue to support us.
-? Wow.
You know, here we are today. So...
♪♪
-These will be my brothers for life, definitely,
because we suffer through a lot.
A once-in-a-lifetime experience, definitely,
to show what a group of people can do
if they put their minds to something.
-When we had, you know, a -game losing streak, this --
my cousin said, "Don't you get sick of all that winning?"
Like, "No."
[ Laughs ]
You never know when it'll disappear.
[ All cheering, horns honking ]
-I'd like to thank the whole Tiger community
and everybody that backs us for just making this
that much more special and making it feel like
we actually did something good for the community.
[ Applause ]
I love them.
[ Applause ]
♪♪
-We're alive to witness something
that's probably never going to happen again
in high-school sports in Pennsylvania.
♪♪
[ All cheering ]
-"State champs" on . -, , , state champs!
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
[ Whistle blows ]
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
-♪ Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh ♪
♪♪
♪ Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh ♪
Welcome to our World! Where we serve you cookies to ensure you get the best viewing experience on our site.
Did you know that you can remove censorship board-wide, use our advanced search functions, be notified when new content is posted, join our memberships, set episodes to show in any order you want & more if you are logged into your account?
Register or sign in here: ucp.php?mode=register
Did you know that you can remove censorship board-wide, use our advanced search functions, be notified when new content is posted, join our memberships, set episodes to show in any order you want & more if you are logged into your account?
Register or sign in here: ucp.php?mode=register
ROAR: The Story of the Southern Columbia Football Tigers (2024)
Moderators: Maskath3, sidolanters, GabrielAlejo2341